MAY 9 - MAY 17, 2015

Join...
MAY 9 - MAY 17, 2015
$1999.00 PER PERSON
(plus $395.00 US departure tax*)
...for a week of music and fun on their
third concert tour of Ireland!
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May 9
Saturday
USA to Ireland. Depart USA for overnight flight to Ireland. Dinner is served while in flight.
Shannon-Cliffs of Moher-Listowel. Morning arrival at Shannon Airport where after clearing customs we meet our Professional
Irish Driver/Guide and Hammond Tours Staff. We make our way to Ireland’s stony place - the Burren (Bhoireann), whose crevices
and thin soil are home to rare, delicate Alpine and Mediterranean plants. The unusual habitat arouses and delights its visitors with
dozens of Celtic crosses, megalithic tombs, ruins of Corcomroe's 12th-century Cistercian Abbey, villages abandoned since famine
May 10
times, and green roads on which you can walk for miles without ever seeing a car. We continue on and gaze at the majestic awe of
Sunday
the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher, a spectacular natural phenomenon, rising 660 feet above the Atlantic. O'Brien's Tower is the best
vantage point from which to view the Cliffs as well as the Aran Islands, the Twelve Pins, and the Maum Turk Mountains. Then on to
Listowel. Dinner is on your own. Overnight at the Listowel Arms Hotel.
Adare Manor. After a leisurely morning and breakfast, we make our way to the town of Adare, voted “The Prettiest Town in
Ireland” primarily because of its authentic thatched roof cottages, which are still in use today. We then arrive at Adare Manor, a five
star property, dating back to 1464. It stands at the northern end of Adare town and boasts deluxe amenities with authentic charm.
May 11
Monday The balance of the day is at your leisure to enjoy the amenities of the Manor – golf, falconry, archery, clay-pigeon shooting, fishing,
hot air ballooning, horse riding, or a visit to the spa – or take a stroll through the town. After a magnificent dinner in The Oakroom
(jacket and tie please), relax in the Lounge, then retire to your luxuriously appointed room. Dinner and overnight at Adare Manor.
Cashel-Blarney-Cork. Morning departure from Adare. Traveling east, we visit the majestic Rock of Cashel. With its well-preserved
ecclesiastical remains, the Rock of Cashel is one of Ireland's most spectacular landmarks, towering high above the surrounding plain
and dominating the land route southward. The large Cathedral, ancient round tower and very early Romanesque Cormac's Chapel,
perched on a dramatic outcrop of rock, bore silent witness to many stirring events in Irish History – St Patrick converted Munster’s
May 12
Tuesday King Aenghus here in the 5th century, and Brian Boru was crowned King of Ireland on this spot in the early 11th Century. We
continue southwest to Blarney, only a few miles from Cork City, where you’ll have a few options... drop in and shop at the Woollen
Mills; stop in Christy’s Pub for a pint; or climb the battlements of Blarney Castle (€12) to find the Blarney Stone which, legend has
it, bequeaths the “gift of eloquence” to all who kiss it. Then on to Cork City. Dinner and overnight at the Imperial Hotel.
Cobh-Midleton-Kinsale. After breakfast we travel to Cobh and the Cobh Heritage Centre. From 1845-1851, crop failures, hunger,
poverty, and disease drove nearly 1½-million people to flee Ireland. Over 40% of the departed from Cobh, making it the single most
important port of emigration. This moving exhibit depicts emigration from Ireland during the Great Famine of the mid-1800’s. From
Cobh, we head to Midleton, famous for its Midleton College, founded in 1596 and the Midleton Distillery, founded in 1825, which
manufactures Irish whisky or what the Irish refer to as “Uisce Beatha” meaning “Water of Life”. We enjoy a tour of the Distillery
which culminates in the Jameson Bar with an Irish Whiskey tasting session where you may have the opportunity of becoming a
May 13
qualified Irish Whiskey Taster with a presentation diploma! Then it is onto Kinsale – one of Ireland’s most picturesque, fashionable,
Wednesday and popular resorts – famous for its beautiful yachting, sea angling, gourmet restaurants, and golf. Charles Fort, a popular attraction,
constructed in the late 17th-century on the site of an earlier coastal fortification, is a classic example of the five-bastioned, starshaped fort. Desmond Castle, built as a custom house about 1500 AD, has had a colorful history, ranging from Spanish occupation
in 1601 to its use as a prison for captured American sailors during the American War of Independence. It is known locally as 'The
French Prison' after a tragic fire in 1747 in which 54 prisoners, mainly French seamen, died. The Castle was also used as a borough
jail from 1791 to the onset of the Great Famine when it was used as an auxiliary workhouse tending to the starving populace. Time
to explore this area. We return to Cork. Dinner is on your own. Overnight at the Imperial Hotel.
New Ross-Kilkenny. We depart Cork and head east via the Irish Riviera to New Ross, Ireland’s busiest port in the 13th-century,
where you'll have a few options... take the historic town walk; stop in Corcoran's Pub for a pint; or visit the Dunbrody Famine Ship
(€8.50), a replica of a sailing vessel built in 1845 to transport emigrants from Ireland to North America. The visit will give you an
May 14
Thursday insight as to what life on board ship was like as well as filling you in on the history of the famine years. We continue to the Medieval
City of Kilkenny, where we enjoy a visit to Kilkenny Castle - home of the Butlers, the Earls and Dukes of Ormonde. The castle was
first built in 1192 and restored to its 18th-century splendor beginning in 1967. Dinner and overnight at the River Court Hotel.
Glendalough-Dublin. After breakfast, we venture into the Wicklow Valley to visit Glendalough, the home of St Kevin, surrounded
May 15
by beautiful mountains and gardens where time has stood still. We’ll see the round tower and ruined churches of the 6th-century
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monastery and hear an explanation of the history of the settlement. Then we drive across the Wicklow Mountains and through the
suburbs into the center of Ireland’s 1,000-year-old city of Dublin. Dinner is on your own. Overnight at the Camden Court Hotel.
Dublin. Today is a free day in Dublin. We suggest a Hop-On/Hop-Off Dublin Bus Pass. You'll see St Patrick’s Cathedral where
Jonathan Swift gave his sermons; or the G.P.O. on O’Connell Street, the scene of the 1916 Easter Uprising; or the famous Phoenix
May 16
Park where Pope John Paul II said Mass in 1979 to over a million people; or Trinity College to view the Book of Kells, the 8thSaturday century manuscripts, still preserved as they were when the monks produced them all those centuries ago. Drop by the Guinness
Storehouse for a peek at the makings of this world famous brew. And be sure to visit Dublin’s oldest Pub this afternoon, the Brazen
Head. Or enjoy a Literary Pub Crawl this evening after dinner. Dinner is on your own. Overnight at the Camden Court Hotel.
May 17
Dublin-Dublin Airport-USA. After breakfast, we transfer to Dublin Airport for our flight home. Arrive home the same day. In the
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true Irish Tradition we wish you a “Safe Home”.
Your Tour Package Includes The Following:
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Round-trip air from NYC to Ireland (add-on airfare will be available)
7 Nights accommodations in First Class Hotels as follows or similar:
Location
Hotel
Listowel
Listowel Arms Hotel – 1 Night ***
www.listowelarms.com
Adare
Adare Manor – 1 Night *****
www.adaremanor.com
Cork
Imperial Hotel – 2 Nights ****
www.flynnhotels.com
Kilkenny
Newpark Hotel – 1 Night ****
www.flynnhotels.com
Dublin
Camden Court Hotel – 2 Nights ***
www.camdencourthotel.com
Full Irish Breakfast daily
Three Dinners: 1 at Adare Manor, 1 in Cork, 1 in Kilkenny
Admission to: Cliffs of Moher, Rock of Cashel, Cobh Heritage Center, Old Midleton Distillery,
Kilkenny Castle, Glendalough, and three performances by Tullamore
Professional Irish Driver/Guide throughout with Deluxe Motorcoach
Sightseeing as per itinerary
Porterage of one suitcase per person
All hotel taxes, service charges and tips (except to Driver/Guide)
R E S E R V A T I O N A PPL I C A T I O N
Please reserve _____ seat(s) on your May 9-17, 2015 Ireland Tour (TM050915)
I enclose a deposit of $ _________ ($250.00 per person).
Initial deposit due: ASAP to reserve seats
nd
FINAL PAYMENT DUE: FEBRUARY 25, 2015
2 Deposit of $350.00 due: November 17, 2014.
Name (as on passport):
D.O.B.:
Companion Name:
D.O.B.:
Address:
City/State/Zip:
Home phone:
Work phone:
E-mail:
Other passengers traveling with me:
Room Type: Twin (2 Beds): ______________ Double (1 Bed): ______________ Single:
If traveling single, please indicate if you: Would like your own room: ____ Would like a roommate:
THE SINGLE SUPPLEMENT IS $599.00 (LIMITED NUMBER AVAILABLE)
Cancellation Insurance per person: Double ($235.00)/Single ($285.00): Yes: __ No:__ (paid on initial deposit)
Cancellation Penalties: If written cancellation is received by Hammond Tour more than 120 days prior to departure, a processing fee of
$250.00 per person will apply. From 119 days to 60 days prior to departure, a cancellation penalty of $600.00 per person will apply.
For 60 days or less prior to departure- a 100% cancellation penalty fee applies.
Please call us if making deposits/payments by credit-card. We accept Visa, Mastercard and American
Express. There is a 3% service-charge for this service (except on initial $250.00 deposit).
*Government Departure Tax is Always Subject to Change
TOUR IS BASED ON MINIMUM 30 PARTICPANTS.
AIRFARE IS NOT GUARANTEED UNTIL PACKAGE IS PAID IN FULL.
Send check (made payable to Hammond Tours) with application to:
HAMMOND TOURS
Telephone:
34 Wedgewood Lane
518-765-2056
Voorheesville, NY 12186
Toll-Free:
Email: jwasserbach@hammondtours.com
866-486-8772